A 55-year-old man has lodged a complaint with the police against a group of scammers who impersonated Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and police officials and falsely claimed that the victim is being investigated in a money laundering case and induced him to transfer Rs 21 lakh in a beneficiary bank account.
According to the police, the victim is a resident of Santacruz. On December 30, last year, the victim received a phone call from a person who claimed to be calling from TRAI and falsely claimed that a mobile number which has been procured on the victim's name is being used to make illegal calls and messages. The caller told the victim that his Aadhar card has been linked with the said mobile number.
The victim's call was then connected to an 'officer' of Govandi police station. The said fraudster, who claimed to be a police officer then told the victim that an FIR has been registered against him at Govandi police station. The fraudster told the victim that one of his bank accounts is also being used for money laundering purposes related to a case being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Victim Transfers 21 Lakh To The Scammers Account
The accused also told the victim to transfer Rs 21 lakh that was in one of his bank accounts, to a beneficiary bank account for verification purposes, else his arrest warrant would be issued and he would be placed under arrest. The scammers also told the victim that if the verification will reveal that he has no role to pay in the money laundering case then the money would be credited back in his bank account within three days. The accused had also shared bogus case related documents with the victim. The victim later informed his family and friends about the incident, who told him that he had been scammed by fraudsters.
Victim Approaches Police Files Complaint
The victim then approached the police and got an offence registered in the matter. A case was then registered under sections 170 (personating a public servant) and 171 (wearing garb or carrying a token used by a public servant with fraudulent intent), 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 465 (forgery), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using genuine a forged) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 66C (identity theft), 66D (cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act.
